Cubicle to Creative

By: Allison Pulikowski

My professional life used to consist of registration logistics, pharmaceutical lingo, and trying to use an algorithm to figure out how many meals to guarantee for a lunch service – 40 conferences a year on my plate, working in this “cookie cutter” world where each event looked the same and had the same process behind it.

My first role out of college was an Event Coordinator for a large conference company. I worked 8:30 – 5:00 every day, and 95% of that time was spent in my cubicle - head down, working diligently on my upcoming events. I worked my way into a senior role, leading a team of four, year after year, of more conferences as the company grew. Although I was successful in what I was doing, I needed more. My creativity had gotten stale, and I knew I needed to find something that would help bring that side of my brain back to life.

I’ve been at Ember for a year and a half now, and my professional life now consists of a much more thoughtful approach – how do we want attendees to feel at this event? How can we approach this differently and WOW the client? What’s really going to leave a lasting impression on the attendees?

My days now are filled with spark sessions and brainstorms, and my former cubicle has been swapped out for a beanbag, which is a pretty sweet added bonus.

Ember has provided a new lens for me to view things in a way that’s different. Instead of thinking, “this is how we do it” my thought process has become “how can we do this better?”

At this point in my career, I’ve had the great opportunity to work in two completely different spectrums of an industry that I will always have a deep-rooted passion for – Events. The pharmaceutical conference world is a far cry from creative event agency life, and I couldn’t be happier with where I’ve currently landed.